2013: Listening to Voices That Matter

byJay Deragonon12/31/2012

Social media has created a lot of noise. Consumers are learnng to filter out all the marketing messages that never speak to what consumers are really saying. The voice of marketing is much different that the voice of the system.

Every business has some form of a “system”. The “system” represents inter-connected processes with all aimed at delivering end value to the customer.

The customer receives a product of service. The employees deliver said product/service by operating within the “system” designed and lead by management. Management sets the rules of the system and controls it. This is the biggest problem with any system.

The voice of the system is the people who work within the system and express how well the system enables them to fulfill their purpose and thus willingly serve the customer. If the people don’t have a voice that management is willing to recognize then the system never really improves.

The voice of the customers represents the level of satisfaction customers have with your product or service. A company’s system should be designed to forever improve the value proposition and subsequent quality of product or service delivered to the end customers. This is how companies create and retain loyal relationship.

The voice of marketing focuses on delivering messages that attract the customer and many times trick them into a transaction. Many times, if not all the time, the voice of marketing is detached from the voice of the system and the voice of the customer.

Who Hears The Voices?

If people within the company cannot speak to the issues that constrain their ability to serve the end customers then management cannot hear what needs to improve. Management’s job is to enable people to improve the system.

If the customers aren’t part of the feedback loop and their voice isn’t considered valuable then the company is likely to miss the mark and loose the customer.

The social web magnifies the voices. The voice of marketing cannot cover up the voice of the system or the voice of the customer. Social media is fools gold to those organizations who do not listen to the voice of the system and the real voice of the customer.

If your competition is better at listening to the voices that matter then you are toast….it is just a matter of time.

In 2013 listening to the right voices will be the only thing that matters if you want to make it to 2014.